Grand Central Above/At/Below

Grand Central Above/At/Below

This piece is comprised of recordings of three different locations in Grand Central Station. The first location is a balcony suspended above the main floor of the station. This vantage allowed me to capture the ambiance of this vast open space with its towering high ceilings. The second location is the actual main floor of the station itself, by weaving through all the people milling around, I was able to document fragments of their conversations and the sound of movement. Location three was recorded in a special area on the lower level of the station, where the construction of the ceiling has created a structural anomaly. Sound travels along it from one corner of the room to the other. You can literally whisper into one corner and hear it from all the way across the room, by putting your ear to the wall in the opposite corner. I had a friend do some recitation while I recorded the sound of his voice from the opposing side of the room.The recitation is chronicled among all the background noises of people conversing and walking through the space. These three recordings were then placed end to end to help guide the listener sonically through these different locales in Grand Central Station, and perhaps recreate the sense and sound of actually being there.

Grand Central Above/At/Below was included in the installation Tomorrow, Today Will Be Yesterday by Rui Almeida which was shown at these festivals.